    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [November 1, 2004]
    [Pages 2907-2912]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    November 1, 2004

        The President. Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. Thank you
    all for coming. I want to thank all the cheese heads who are here. It's
    close to voting time, and I'm here to ask for your vote and your help.
    Get your friends and neighbors to go to the polls tomorrow. Get our
    fellow Republicans to go to the polls, wise independents, and discerning
    Democrats. And when you get them headed to the polls, remind them that
    if they want a safer America, a stronger America, and a better America,
    to put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
        Perhaps the most important reason to put me back in is so that
    Laura will be First Lady for 4 more years. I am
    sorry that she's not here today.
        Audience members. Aw-w-w!
        The President. That's generally the reaction. [Laughter] She's campaigning. You've come to know her like I know her.
    She's warm. She's compassionate. She is a strong First Lady.
        I'm proud of my runningmate, Dick Cheney. I
    readily concede that he does not have the waviest hair in the race.
    [Laughter] You'll be pleased I didn't pick him because of his hairdo.
    [Laughter] I picked him because of his experience, his judgment, and
    he's getting the job done for the American people.
        I'm proud of my friend and your former Governor, Tommy
    Thompson. He's done a great job. He's done
    a fantastic job for the people. You trained him well. [Laughter] And I
    want to thank Sue Ann Thompson for her
    sacrifice and for letting--allowing Tommy to work so hard on behalf of
    the people of the United States.
        I want to thank Congressman Paul Ryan and
    Janna; Congressman Jim
    Sensenbrenner and
    Cheryl; and Congressman Mark
    Green for such a great job in the United States
    Congress. I want to thank the statehouse people who are here. I want to
    thank the local government people who are here. Old Scott W. is with us. At least that's what I call him. The
    high sheriff is with us. Sheriff Clarke,
    thanks for coming.
        I've been most impressed during my travels throughout Wisconsin to
    have met and talked with a man who will make a great United States
    Senator, Tim Michels. I wish Jerry Boyle all the best in his run for the Fourth
    Congressional District.
        I want to thank Morgan Hamm for coming
    today. I appreciate him being here. He's been a great Olympic champ from
    the State of Wisconsin. I want to thank Keith Tozer and Tom Crean, great basketball
    coaches here in Milwaukee. I want to thank Brooks
    and Dunn for being here. I'm so honored they
    traveled. I can't thank both of the guys enough--and their band. I also
    want to thank our longtime friends the
    Oak Ridge
    Boys for being here. Thank you all.
        I want to thank all the people who've worked so hard in this State
    over the last year to get ready for tomorrow. I understand people have
    been working hours, day after day. I want to thank you for making the
    phone calls and putting up the signs and preparing these fantastic bus
    trips we have taken all across your State. I want to thank you for what
    you have done. I want to thank you for what you're going to do. You're
    going to turn out a big vote, and we're going to carry Wisconsin.
        Tomorrow the people of this good State go to the polls and vote, and
    I'm excited about the election day. I'm optimistic about this country
    and our future. I see a brighter day, a more hopeful America for every
    citizen.
        One of my favorite sayings is by a fellow Texan named Tom Lea. Here
    is what he said. He said, ``Sarah and I live on the east side of the
    mountain. It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side

    [[Page 2908]]

    to see the day that is coming, not to see the day that is gone.'' During
    this campaign, my opponent spent much of the
    time talking about the day that is gone. I'm talking about the day
    that's coming.
        I see a great day coming for America, a day where prosperity reaches
    every corner of our country, a day where every child is able to read and
    write and add and subtract, a day in which this world of ours becomes
    more peaceful for our children and our grandchildren. Tomorrow the
    people of Wisconsin and America have a chance to bring that better day
    by voting for strong, competent, and principled leadership. I'm here
    asking for your vote.
        The American President must lead with clarity and purpose. The role
    of the President is not to follow the path of the latest poll. The role
    of a President is to lead based on principle and conviction and
    conscience.
        During these 4 years, I've learned that whatever your strengths are,
    you are going to need them; whatever your shortcomings are, the people
    will notice them. [Laughter] Sometimes I'm a little too blunt. I get
    that from my mother. [Laughter] Sometimes I
    mangle the English language. I get that from my father. [Laughter] But at all times, whether you agree with me
    or not, you know where I stand, what I believe, and where I'm going to
    lead this country.
        This election comes down to five clear choices for our families. The
    first clear choice concerns your family's budget. When I ran for
    President 4 years ago, I pledged to lower taxes for America's families.
    I kept my word. We doubled the child credit to help moms and dads. We
    reduced the marriage penalty. We believe the Tax Code ought to
    encourage, not penalize, marriage. We reduced taxes on everybody who
    pays taxes.
        And the result of our good policies is clear to all. Our economy is
    growing at rates as fast as any in nearly 20 years. We've added 1.9
    million jobs in the last 13 months. The farmers of Wisconsin--the farm
    income in Wisconsin is up. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong in
    America. The small-business sector is alive and well. The homeownership
    rate is at an alltime high, and more minority families own a home today
    than ever before in our Nation's history. The national unemployment rate
    is 5.4 percent. Let me put that in perspective for you: That's lower
    than the average rate of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The
    unemployment rate in the great State of Wisconsin is 5 percent. This
    economy of ours is strong, and it is getting stronger.
        And I have a message for the people of Wisconsin: To keep your
    economy growing, we will keep your taxes low. We will make sure the
    small-business sector remains vibrant, and we will make sure Wisconsin
    farmers continue to make a good living.
        My opponent has got an economic plan as
    well.
        Audience member. Tax everything! [Laughter]
        The President. Let me remind you of his record. He voted 98 times to increase taxes. That's in 20 years in
    the Senate.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. That's five times a year. You might say it's a
    predictable pattern--[laughter]--a leading indicator. [Laughter] In this
    campaign, the Senator has pledged to raise
    taxes on the top two brackets. When you hear a politician say he's going
    to raise taxes, that's generally a promise they keep. [Laughter] He's
    proposing $2.2 trillion in new Federal spending. That's trillion with a
    ``T.''
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. That is a lot. That's a lot even for a Senator from
    Massachusetts. And yet, by raising the top two brackets, he falls short of the 2.2 trillion. As a matter of fact,
    there is a significant tax gap. Given his record, guess who he's going
    to call upon to fill the tax gap? The middle class of our country. We're
    not going to let him tax you; we're going to carry Wisconsin tomorrow
    and win a victory on Tuesday.

    [[Page 2909]]

        The second clear choice in this election involves the quality of
    life for our Nation's families. I believe every child can learn, and I
    expect every school to teach. When I ran for President, I promised to
    challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations by reforming our schools.
    I kept my word. We passed education reforms to bring high standards to
    our classrooms. Math and reading scores are on the rise. We're closing
    the achievement gap by helping minority students. My vision for a new
    term is to build on these reforms and extend them to our high schools so
    that no child is left behind in America.
        We will continue to improve life for our families by making health
    care more affordable and available. We'll expand health savings
    accounts. We'll allow small businesses to join together and buy
    insurance at the same discounts that big companies are able to do. We
    will help our families who need help. But we will also do something
    about the frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of your health
    care and running good doctors out of practice.
        We have a difference of opinion on this big issue. My
    opponent has voted against medical liability
    reform not 1 time, not 2 times, but 10 times as a Member of the United
    States Senate.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. And he put a personal-
    injury trial lawyer on the ticket.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. I'm standing with Wisconsin's docs. I'm standing with
    Wisconsin's patients. I am standing with Wisconsin's families. I am for
    real medical liability reform--now. In all we do to improve health care,
    we will make sure the decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by
    officials in Washington, DC.
        My opponent has got a different approach.
    You might remember in one of the debates when they asked him about his
    health care plan, he looked square in the camera and said, ``The
    Government doesn't have anything to do with it.'' [Laughter] I could
    barely contain myself. [Laughter] The Government has got a lot to do
    with it. Eighty percent of the people will end up on a Government plan
    under his vision. Federalizing health care for America's families is the
    wrong prescription.
        The third clear choice in this election involves your retirement.
    Our Nation has made a solemn commitment to America's seniors on Social
    Security and Medicare. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I promised
    to keep that commitment and improve Medicare by adding prescription drug
    coverage. I worked with Tommy Thompson. We
    got the job done, and I kept my word. Seniors are getting discounts on
    medicine with drug discount cards. And beginning in 2006, all seniors
    will be able to get prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
        My opponent has a record. He voted against
    the Medicare bill that included prescription drug coverage for our
    seniors. He's also trying to scare seniors about their Social Security.
    But he forgets to mention that he has voted eight times to raise taxes
    on Social Security benefits.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. He can run from his record,
    but he cannot hide.
        I've kept the promise of Social Security for our seniors, and I will
    always keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors. And the
    Social Security trust is in pretty good shape for baby boomers like me
    and some others out there I see. [Laughter]
        But we need to worry about our children and grandchildren when it
    comes to Social Security. The job of the President is to confront
    problems, not to pass them on to future generations and future
    Presidents. I believe younger workers ought to be allowed to take some
    of their payroll taxes and set it aside in a personal savings account,
    an account they call their own.
        The fourth clear choice in this election is on the values that are
    crucial to keeping our families strong. I stand for marriage and family,
    which are the foundations of

    [[Page 2910]]

    our society. I stand for a culture of life in which every person matters
    and every being counts. I proudly signed the ban on partial-birth
    abortion. I stand for the appointment of Federal judges who know the
    difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the
    law.
        On these issues my opponent and I are
    miles apart. He voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. He voted against the
    Defense of Marriage Act, even though most Democrats supported it. There
    is a mainstream in American politics, and John Kerry sits on the far
    left bank. He can run from his liberal philosophy, but he cannot hide.
        The final choice in this election is the most important one of all
    because it concerns the security of your family. All progress on every
    other issue depends on the safety of our citizens. The most solemn duty
    of the American President is to protect the American people. If this
    country shows uncertainty or weakness during these troubling times, this
    world of ours will drift toward tragedy. This is not going to happen on
    my watch.
        Our strategy to protect America is clear. We strengthened
    protections for the homeland. We are reforming and strengthening our
    intelligence capabilities. We are transforming the All-Volunteer Army.
    There will be no draft. We are relentless. We are determined. We are
    staying on the offensive. We are fighting the terrorists abroad so we do
    not have to face them here at home.
        We are succeeding. Afghanistan is free and an ally in the war on
    terror. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are making arrests and capturing
    terrorist leaders. Libya is dismantling its weapons programs. The army
    of a free Iraq is beginning to defend its freedom. Al Qaida no longer
    controls Afghanistan. We have shut down its camps there. We are
    systematically destroying the Al Qaida network.
        Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
        The President. I am proud to be the Commander in Chief of such a
    great United States military. And we have a great military because of
    the character of the men and women who wear our Nation's uniform. I want
    to thank the military families who are here for your sacrifice and your
    courage. I want to thank the veterans who are here for having set such a
    great example for those who wear the uniform. And I want to assure our
    troops and our families that their loved ones will have all they need to
    complete their missions.
        That's why I went to the United States Congress and asked for $87
    billion of supplemental funding. This was necessary. This was important
    funding to support our troops. My opponent
    said that it would be irresponsible to vote against funding for our
    troops--until his poll numbers began to go down, and then he voted
    against funding for our troops.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. And then he entered the
    flip-flop hall of fame. And as he entered, he said this famous quote:
    ``I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.''
    He has has a lot of explanations about that vote since then, but I think
    the most revealing is this. He said, ``The whole matter was a
    complicated matter.'' My fellow Americans, there is nothing complicated
    about supporting our troops in combat.
        The problems with Senator Kerry's record
    on national security are deeper than election-year reversals. For 20
    years, on the largest national security issues of our time, he has been
    consistently wrong. During the cold war, Senator Kerry voted against
    critical weapons systems and opposed President Ronald Reagan's policy of
    peace through strength. History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong
    and President Ronald Reagan was right.
        When former President Bush assembled an
    international coalition to drive Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, Senator Kerry
    voted against the use of force to liberate Kuwait.

    [[Page 2911]]

    History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and former President Bush
    was right.
        Only a year after the first bombing of the World Trade Center, the
    Senator proposed massive cuts in America's
    intelligence, so extreme that even his colleague from Massachusetts, Ted
    Kennedy, opposed them. History has shown
    that Senator Kerry was wrong--and we must be fair--Senator Kennedy was
    right. [Laughter]
        We have a clear difference of opinion on how to best defend
    America's families. My opponent has said that
    America must submit to a ``global test'' before we commit force.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. I'm not making that up. [Laughter] He was standing right about there when he said it. [Laughter]
    As far as I can tell, that means that America must get permission from
    foreign capitals. I will work on alliances. I will continue to
    strengthen our friendships around the world. But I will never, never
    turn over America's national security decisions to leaders of other
    countries.
        Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
        The President. We have a difference of opinion about the world in
    which we live. The Senator said that September
    the 11th did not change him much at all. September the 11th changed me.
    It changed my outlook about how--what we needed to do to defend this
    country. September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin
    Towers. I'll never forget the sights and sounds of that day. I will
    never forget the workers in the hardhats yelling at me at the top of
    their lungs, ``Whatever it takes.'' I remember the man who grabbed me by
    the arm, and he looked me in the eye, and he said, ``Do not let me
    down.'' From that day forward, I've gotten up every morning thinking
    about how to better protect America. I will never relent in defending
    this country, whatever it takes.
        Over the next 4 years, we'll use every asset at our disposal to
    protect you. Perhaps the most powerful asset we have is freedom. I
    believe in the power of liberty to transform societies. I know that free
    nations do not breed resentments and export terror. Free nations become
    allies in the war on terror. Free nations will help us keep the peace we
    want for our children and our grandchildren.
        I want you all to think, particularly the young here, to think about
    what has taken place in a brief period of time. In Afghanistan, young
    girls couldn't go to school, and their mothers were taken to the public
    squares and whipped and sometimes shot in a sports stadium, because of
    the ideology of hate of the Taliban. But because we acted to defend
    ourselves, because we acted to uphold a doctrine, which said, ``If you
    harbor a terrorists, you're equally as guilty as the terrorist,''
    millions of people voted in a Presidential election in Afghanistan. And
    the first voter was a 19-year old woman.
        Freedom is powerful, and freedom can be threatening to the
    terrorists. And that's why Iraq is so dangerous. But we're headed toward
    free elections there. Think how far that society has come from the days
    of torture chambers and mass graves. See, I believe everybody deserves
    and wants to be free. I believe deep in everybody's soul is the desire
    to live in freedom. I believe moms and dads across this world want to
    raise their children in a free society. I believe this because I
    understand freedom is not America's gift to the world; I believe this
    because I know that freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and
    woman in this world.
        My fellow citizens, these are historic times, and a lot is at stake
    in this election. The future safety and prosperity of America are on the
    ballot. Ultimately, this election comes down to, who do you trust? Who
    do you trust to defend the country?
        Audience members. You!

    [[Page 2912]]

        The President. Who do you trust to extend prosperity?
        If you believe that taxes should stay low so families can pay their
    bills and small businesses can create new jobs, I ask you to come stand
    with me.
        If you believe in high standards for our public schools, I ask you
    to come stand with me.
        If you believe that patients and doctors should be in charge of
    health care, I ask you to come stand with me.
        If you believe this Nation must honor the commitments of Medicare
    and strengthen Social Security for generations to come, I ask you to
    come stand with me.
        If you believe this Nation should honor marriage and family and make
    a place for the weak and the vulnerable, I ask you to come stand with
    me.
        If you believe America should fight the war on terror with all our
    might and lead with unwavering confidence in our ideals, I ask you to
    come stand with me.
        If you are a Democrat who believes your party has turned too far to
    the left this year, I ask you to come stand with me.
        If you are a minority citizen and you believe in free enterprise and
    good schools and the enduring values of family and faith, and if you're
    tired of your vote being taken for granted, I ask you to come stand with
    me.
        And if you are a voter who believes that the President of the United
    States should say what he means and do what he says and keep his word, I
    ask you to come stand with me.
        Four years ago, when I traveled your great State asking for the
    vote, I made this pledge, that if elected, I would uphold the honor and
    the dignity of the office. With your help, with your hard work, I will
    do so for 4 more years.
        Thanks for coming. God bless. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:38 a.m. at the U.S. Cellular Arena. In
    his remarks, he referred to Sue Ann Thompson, wife of Health and Human
    Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson; Milwaukee County Executive Scott
    K. Walker; Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke, Jr.; Morgan Hamm,
    2004 Olympic gold medalist, men's gymnastics; Keith Tozer, vice
    president of soccer operations and head coach, Major Indoor Soccer
    League Milwaukee Wave; Tom Crean, head coach, Marquette University men's
    basketball team; entertainers Brooks & Dunn and the Oak Ridge Boys; and
    former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.